As a new suspect was arrested for his possible involvement in the recent shooting in Brussels, and the violence between Israel and Hamas continues, Belgium is expected to remain at terrorism threat level 3 for "some time."
Two Swedish citizens were killed and another was injured in the terror attack on 16 October near Place Sainctelette by Abdesalem Lassoued, who was shot and killed by police the following morning in a café in Schaerbeek. Four people had been arrested before, and now a fifth suspect has been caught in Spain.
"Policia Nacional officers arrested a person in Benahavís, in the province of Málaga, for his involvement in the jihadist attack in Belgium on 16 October" and who was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Belgian authorities, the Spanish police said. The warrant was for the arrest of a man who was sought for drug trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering and membership of a criminal organisation.
The suspect was hiding under a false identity, and when police searched his home they seized his documents, electronic equipment and a large sum of money. "Investigators are examining all these elements to determine exactly what link exists between the two people," said the Spanish police.
Emotional trigger
On Friday, the suspect appeared before an examining magistrate, who decided to place him under an arrest warrant. He is the fifth person to be arrested in this investigation, following the arrest of individuals in Nantes (France) in Dresden (Germany) and two people in the Paris region.
Immediately after carrying out the attack, Lassoued recorded a video claiming responsibility for the attack and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group. According to German publication Bild, Lassoued forwarded the latter video to 26 contacts (11 in Belgium and 15 abroad), including the man arrested in Dresden.
Partly because of this and partly because of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Belgium is likely to remain at terrorism threat level 3 (Serious: the Threat is Possible and Probable) for "some time to come," said Gert Vercauteren, head of the Coordination Body for Threat Analysis (OCAD), on Flemish radio on Saturday.
Only threat level 4, which is categorised as Very Serious and indicates that a terrorist threat is "serious and very imminent" is higher. That level was declared for Brussels on the evening of 16 October when Lassoued was still a fugitive.
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This increased surveillance, he said, is not only justified by that attack, but also the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories – which could be an "emotional trigger" for more attacks.
"In this context, there is of course a great risk that some people will express their anger or frustrations violently," Vercauteren said. "We are already seeing an increase in the number of reports of threats. We have to meet almost daily with the relevant departments to deal with very worrying cases."
With threats being made against the Jewish community on social networks, OCAD is concerned that people will start "imitating" terrorists, he said. "There have already been several cases like this, even in Germany someone was inspired by the perpetrator in Brussels. We have to be very careful. I fear we will be stuck with this for some time, we also have to see how the conflict in the Gaza strip develops but I do not think the effects will go away in the next few weeks."
